Temporary Insanity
by RIPchildhoodx
Summary: It's been days since our group of Supernaturals escaped the Cabals. They have been on the road for days and are looking to settle down for now. Can they find a living situation that they can feel safe in?
1. Prologue

**CHLOE'S POV**

I was rudely awakened to my head hitting the window on my side of the car as Kit drove over what I'm guessing was a pothole. I blinked a few times to make sure I was awake because the whole car was dark. As my eyes adjusted to the darkness a little, I glanced beside me to find Derek sitting upright, watching the road through the windshield. I turned around to see that Simon and Tori were still asleep - appearing dead - in the back seat. Kit and Aunt Lauren were seated up front and I think Aunt Lauren is asleep because she's quiet. Whenever she was worried, she would never stop talking until everything she felt was laid out for everyone to see.

I jumped a little when I felt a warm hand rest on my knee. I looked over at Derek and he was looking at me with concern. I offered him my best reassuring smile and a placed my hand on top of his. I knew he wasn't buying it because I was worried about everyone. We have been on the run from the Edison Group for days, bouncing from motel to motel and it was very exhausting. Especially for Kit.

"How far until the next motel, dad?" Simon groaned from the backseat, re-positioning himself and forcing Tori up against the window on her side of the van. She woke up right away. _Great_.

"Watch it," she snapped as she sat up.

The van turned and we were bumped around a little bit as Kit pulled into the parking lot of another motel. This one had two floors of motel rooms and the office was located at the entrance of the parking lot. When Kit turned the van off, we all slowly climbed out and stretched as Kit made his way to the office. I felt Derek's hand entwine with mine and I looked up to meet his piercing, emerald green eyes. The concern from earlier was still there, so I gave his hand a squeeze.

I felt bad whenever I noticed how worried Derek got for me. I think after everything we've been through I am able to hold my own to a certain extent. However, I did appreciate his care for me as well. I just wish there was more I could do to prove to him that he didn't to feel so protective of me all the time.

Kit came back with two room keys and a small brown envelope. One key was to a room for the boys and a room for the girls. Simon and Derek followed Kit across the lot to their room, while Tori and I followed Aunt Lauren to our room up the stairs. I hated being so far from the others, but they were in the same building, so that was the only reassurance I had. When we got to our room, Tori made a beeline for the bathroom as she called dibs on the shower first. While she did that, Aunt Lauren and I sat in silence for a few moments that seemed to go on forever.

"Chloe..." Aunt Lauren came to sit beside me on the bed. "Are you sure that this whole thing with Derek is a good idea?"

I frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I just worry about him because he so much bigger and much stronger than us, and -" I cut her off.

"Aunt Lauren," I said, taking her hand, "you have nothing to worry about with Derek." She only managed a half-smile. "If anything," I added, "he's a danger to our enemies."

I watched as Aunt Lauren took my hand and gave it a tight squeeze. When she reacted the way she did towards Derek, I was sure us being together was going to cause tension, especially since she was involved in the experiments. If anything, she should know better than me about our powers.

She opened her mouth to say something further, but the bathroom door and Tori emerged in a towel wrapped around her middle and her head. She was smiling through the exhausted look on her face, but you could tell she was relieved to be clean. Aunt Lauren looked with that same half-smile and motioned her head towards the bathroom, signalling me to go next. I gave her a quick hug and skipped into the steamy bathroom.

...

When I came out of the bathroom, I found Tori sound asleep in the bed we were sharing and Aunt Lauren asleep on the other bed. The lamp by the door was the only light I had to see throughout the room. I threw my clothes back on, turned the lamp off and climbed into bed next to Tori where I fell asleep myself as soon as my head hit the pillow.


	2. A New Beginning

**CHLOE'S POV**

Kit pulled in to a mall parking lot, shut the van off and instructed everyone to get out. We all climbed out of the vehicle and followed Kit to another van, except this one was red. We stood and watched as he ripped open the brown envelope I noticed him with before and dumped two sets of keys into his hand. One was a set of car keys and he pressed a button on the one set and the van beeped. Kit ushered everyone inside. I climbed into the back with Derek right behind me, Simon and Tori in the middle, and Aunt Lauren and Kit up front - him driving, of course. Nobody asked questions and we all remained silent.

In no time at all, Kit drove out of the parking lot and drove down a street going south. It wasn't long before Derek threw his arm around my shoulders and gently pulled me to his side. He rubbed my arm and I cuddled into him, enjoying the closeness after spending a night without him. I don't think I could ever get enough of Derek Souza and I didn't mind. Having him so close and being able to touch me felt like a drug I became dependent on. I'm pretty he felt the same way, because when he held me...My only best comparison is that of a war veteran coming home and seeing his wife after being away from home for so long.

We pulled in along a dirt road that ran down about two minutes from the road and separated in two directions, each going to a different farmhouse. They were both beautifully built. One was built with a porch wrapping around half of the house and both were made of wood. One was painted a light blue and the other was painted white. A vast set of trees rested a quarter mile away from both houses and I immediately thought of Derek and his capability of changing close to "home." The house was located in a small town called, Ivoryton. It was big enough to have a small mall and schools for kids of every age, but small enough to house less than five thousand people.

"This is where we're staying?" Tori snapped in slight disgust. No one answered her.

Kit shut the van off and turned around to face us. "Okay everyone," he started off, "these houses are for our use for as long as we need them." He pulled out the other set of keys and handed one to Aunt Lauren.

"How did you get all of this, dad?" Simon asked, still in awe of the land.

"No questions," Kit instructed politely and looked at Tori. "Tori, I am going to give you a choice: you can either stay with your brothers and me in one house, or room with Chloe and her aunt in the other."

Tori sat there with her arms crossed for what felt like an eternity. She occasionally glanced out at the houses, still deciding. I did't think she was ever going to decide until she said, "Which house do you guys get?"

Kit pointed to the blue one.

"Screw that," she said. "I'm rooming with Chloe."

For a moment I dreaded the idea of further rooming with Tori Enright, but then I perked up a little when I thought about this being a good opportunity for us to further try and get along with each other. Although Tori seemed nicer to me at times, she still had her usual bitch streak that lately she had begun to save for her brothers.

I remember the first time Kit actually told Tori about her relation to Simon and Derek. That was a time I'm more than happy is far behind us now.

Derek patted my arm and leaned down so his lips were brushing my ear, sending goosebumps along my skin. "Don't worry," he whispered. "If she gives you a hard time, I'll fix her." I stifled a giggle.

"Alright!" Kit exclaimed. "Let's check out our new homes!"

...

I was so grateful to see that the entire house was furnished. The living room set-up was done in one room with the kitchen setting right beside it. The furniture was a dark brown with dark wood tables. There was a flat screen hanging on the living room wall above the fireplace. A set of windowed double doors sat behind the full-length sofa that led out the backyard.

I followed Tori upstairs to our new rooms while Aunt Lauren continued to look downstairs. Tori disappeared down the hall and into the first bedroom she saw, which was fairly large. I made my way into the room next door of the exact same size, although her bed had a wooden frame, mine was metal. The closet was placed behind the bedroom door and the bathroom was right across the hall. What made me really happy was that I didn't feel like I was in a little girl's room, but a woman's room. It felt more mature and sophisticated. Tori came in and sat on my bed.

"There's only one thing missing," she said.

"What's that?"

"Clothes."

I frowned and went to the closet, opening it up and feeling my mouth fall open.

I heard Tori get up and rush to my side. "Oh. My. God." She sprinted back to her room and squealed with excitement. She ran back in with a black mini-dress in hand. "How awesome is this? Clean clothes!"

I continued to go through the clothes hanging in the closet and was grateful for all the clothes that could fit me right for once. I can toss my old dirty clothes, shower and throw on a nice pair of black skinny jeans, a nice what T-shirt and a pair of black Converse. And that's exactly what I did.

I found strawberry scented everything - shampoo, body wash - and jumped in the shower, eager to use them. I let the hot water completely soak me before I washed myself down. It felt so good to feel clean, which is much different than being motel clean. I turned off the water, wrapped a towel around my middle and my hair before walking back to my room where I found Derek sitting on my bed with his head down.

"Umm..." I wasn't sure what to say as I was pretty much naked in front of a guy I have only been with for at least a week.

Derek looked up and quickly averted his eyes. "Jesus! Chloe, I'm -"

I ran to the bed, grabbed my clothes and ran back to the bathroom. I slammed the door and stood with my back against hit, breathing heavily as my mind replayed what just happened. I can't believe that just happened! God, poor Derek; he must mortified.

 _What about you? You're the one who's naked!_

I quickly dressed and combed through my hair before gathering the courage to face my boyfriend again. I took a deep breath and walked back into the room where I found Derek now sitting forward with his face in his hands, elbows on his knees. I walked over and sat beside him.

He looked at me after an eternity of silence. "Chloe, I am so sorry."

I shook my head. "Don't. It's done."

Derek sighed and dropped his face back down. He said nothing further and I felt bad. I wasn't even sure what to say myself, but I knew exactly how he felt. I laid my head on his shoulder and rubbed his back to comfort him. I know most guys enjoy seeing their girlfriends naked, much less wrapped in towels, but somehow Derek and I were different from that. He had more respect me and I had no high expectations of him.

"How did you get in here?" I asked, knowing Aunt Lauren would have been a little reluctant to letting him in so soon.

"Your window."

I laughed. "How romantic. But I think you're supposed to wait until I'm asleep."

"I couldn't wait to see you," Derek said and looked at me. "I don't want to be away from you, Chloe."

I frowned, confused. "I'm only next door."

"I know." He re-positioned himself so he was facing me now. "But when I was walking over here, every step I took felt like it was pushing the house further away."

I reached out and cupped his face in my hand. It was now that I noticed his hair was wet and he had changed his clothes. He smelled really good at the moment and I inched closer to him on the bed. His eyes never left mine as I made the move and I watched as his hands came out to rest on my thighs. The touch was so gentle that it sent shivers up my spine and it felt good.

"It hurts being away from you," he whispered. "It hurts not being able to touch you."

I took that moment to lean in carefully, prepared to touch my lips to his. Our mouths were just about to touch when -

"Chloe! Tori!" Aunt Lauren called. "Kit's here with dinner!"

"Coming!" I shouted back. I looked at Derek.

"Back out the window I go," he grumbled.

"But you can -"

"She doesn't know I'm here." He kissed my cheek and disappeared out the window.


	3. Changes

**[A/N: I've decided that I'm going to keep the story going from Chloe's POV. I may throw in a few POV's from the other characters throughout the story, but for now it's just Chloe.]**

 **...**

Kit brought pizza over for dinner, reassuring everyone that this was our last night of fast food since the friend who set him up with everything also went as far as to stock up the fridges and cupboards stocked with fresh food. I was relieved that there would be time for a home cooked dinner after such a long time of energy bars and chocolate milk. At least, I hoped we would be around long enough to enjoy something like that.

"Now as you all know," Kit said after some time. "We don't know how long we'll be here. But for now let's try and make the best of it, okay?"

We all nodded lazily.

"Okay." He handed everyone a piece of yellow paper with a chart on it. "While I was out earlier, I went to the liberty of registering you all at the local high school."

Derek's head jerked up towards his dad, eyes wide. "Is that a good idea?" he asked. "Is that even safe? We're on the run, dad."

"I understand, son, but hiding inside all the time will raise suspicion among the locals." He shook his head. "I was against it at first, but allowing you kids to blend in will hopefully provide a good disguise for all of us."

"How did you even manage to get us into school?" Tori asked. "Derek is still wanted for kidnapping and Chloe still has a half million dollars on her."

"No questions," answered Kit. "I did and it's done. You guys start tomorrow since coincidentally, school started today."

"So what's our situation?" I spoke up.

It was Aunt Lauren's turn to speak. "I will be posing as yours an Tori's mother who works as a doctor at the nearest hospital."

"Oh God," groaned Tori. "Just don't be a psycho bitch like mine was."

Aunt Lauren continued, pretending she didn't hear a thing. "And the boys' situation will remain the same, only Kit will be working with me at the hospital. If anyone asks, our houses burned down in a massive town fire and road tripped our way here."

The whole situation sounded so wonderful and deceitful. I wanted so much to believe that this would last, but in my heart I knew this would not last and it killed me to think about it. Our only source of normal since our last escape was attending a new school with a group of genetically modified teenage supernaturals under false names. I'm not going to lie, I did like mine, but would it work for long?

I didn't want to run anymore. I was tired and I wanted so much to take some time and live a little while I'm still young. I didn't want to spend a great deal of my life running from a group of people set on killing me and others like me. I want a chance to slow down, catch up with myself, start a new life and maybe have a family.

I felt tears prick my eyes and I got up from my spot on the couch and headed out through the double doors into the night. I didn't go very far, but far enough away from the house that no one could really see me. Every moment I thought about running away from psychotic doctors and killer supernatural beings, my heart broke. Everything you could imagine happening in a movie was now my life. My heart broke every time I thought of something happening to the people I cared for so dearly and not being able to do a thing because I am nothing but a helpless necromancer.

I fell to my knees and dug the heels of my hands into my eyes and sobbed. I haven't cried like this in a long time and it felt so good to. What felt better was that I was alone so I wouldn't embarrass myself in front of the others.

A pair of hands rested on my shoulders. They were hot to the touch and I didn't need to look to see who was standing behind me.

"Chloe..." Derek's voice sounded through the darkness.

I opened my mouth to say something but all that came up were more sobs. I couldn't keep my breathing straight as I heaved every time I inhaled. Derek's hand tightened on my shoulders.

"Please don't cry," his whispered.

"I...I c-can't h-h-help it-t," I sobbed through more heaving breaths.

"Shh." I felt myself being gently turned around and pulled up against a hard chest. Derek's arms wrapped around me, and his hand rubbed my back, comforting me. At first I hated the idea of him seeing me in such a mess, but that went out the window when I smelled him.

I don't know how long we stayed there like that, but it was long enough for my sobs to stop and my face feeling tight from all the tears I cried. Derek didn't move from his spot on the ground but I slowly got to my feet, using his shoulders to steady me. When I straightened, he followed me up and I watched as he towered above me. He took my face in his hands and leaned forward, pressing his lips to my forehead. I wanted to smile but all my crying had made me tired. I wanted to go back inside and go to bed, but I was afraid to move.

"I can carry you in," Derek offered as if reading my mind.

I shook my head. "I'm a big girl, Derek," I said blandly before making my way towards the house.

Derek walked me to the back door and stopped when we got there. The living room had been cleaned up from dinner and nobody was in sight that I could see. I stood in silence.

"Chloe," Derek said. I looked up to meet his eyes. "Don't ever feel like you can't talk to me."

I managed a small smile before nodding and hugging him tight. I walked inside and locked the door behind me, watching him disappear in the direction of his house. I trudged my way up to my bedroom and climbed into bed in the same clothes, not bothering to put pajamas on tonight. I laid my head down on the fluffy pillow and closed my eyes. I was asleep in no time.


	4. New Day

A knock at my door woke me up the next morning. The sun was beaming in through the window, brightening up the white in my room, momentarily blinding me. I glanced over at my alarm clock that read it was seven o'clock. Wow, three hours later than our usual wake up call to say we're heading out again. I groaned and was ready for Aunt Lauren or Tori to burst into my room, telling me we were leaving again but it never happened. Instead, Tori barged in and ripped my comforter off.

"Get up, girl," she demanded. "I'm helping you pick an outfit for today."

I sat up and watched as Tori rummaged through my closet that was mostly black clothes, which I oddly didn't seem to mind. She pulled a black button-up out of the closet, walked over to my dresser and threw a pair of dark blue skinny jeans at me.

"Wear your Converse with that." And with that, she disappeared into the hall, closing the door behind her.

What. The. Hell. Tori never offered to help me before and now she was picking out clothes for me? Was she okay?

I climbed out of bed and put on the clothes laid out for me. I looked in the mirror and decided that there was no sense in arguing with the choice. Although I did look good, black wouldn't always be my choice of color for clothing. Or would it? I decided to use some of the make-up left for me. I applied some black eyeliner and some mascara before brushing through my hair, ultimately going with what I had.

I walked downstairs and found Aunt Lauren and Tori at the island eating breakfast. I took one look at the food and wanted to throw up, but I continued my way downstairs and sat with them. Tori continued eating and Aunt Lauren watched me with concern. I offered her a small smile.

"I'm never good on the first day," I said.

She smiled because she already knew this. She sipped her coffee and read through the paper for a minute before remembering to hand me a new backpack. It was a simple white Jansport bag, which I thanked her for. When she went back to reading, all I wanted to do was blow up about how these two were acting so damn calm about this whole thing. Does it not worry them that the Cabals could show up at any moment catch us? How do we know that we can trust the person who gave us all of this? How can Kit be sure that this isn't a set up by the Edison Group or something?

 _Someone tell me that I am not overreacting!_ I shouted at Tori and Aunt Lauren in my mind. Of course they weren't going to answer me since they didn't read minds. But I needed someone to tell me the truth. Were we safe?

...

Kit handed us all lunch money before we climbed out of the van, watching as the only adults we trusted drove away to their own first day at work. My heart ached as I watched the van disappear around the corner. A hand rubbed my back and I turned to see Derek standing there watching me carefully. His touch was light on my back as if he applied too much pressure I would shatter.

"I'm okay," I said.

We walked into the school and separated to find our lockers. Luckily, mine was closer to Simon's that I could see him down the hall. He looked over as if sensing me looking and waved at me. I lazily waved back before looking at my schedule to find my first class. I looked around at the room numbers above a doors before I decided to shyly stop a friendly looking blonde girl.

"Excuse me," I said.

"Yes?" She smiled at me.

"Um, I'm new here and I was wondering if you could help me find room 245?"

Her smile got bigger. "I'm headed there now. You can follow me."

On my way to my first science class, I learned a little about the girl I stopped in the hallway. Her name was Ashley, she was a straight-A student with a dream to go to Berkeley to study business. She was in the tenth grade like me and she seemed all too happy to get to know me. It took me a minute to remember my fake name, Chloe Davis.

"How did you end up in Ivoryton?" she asked.

I gulped. "M-Mine and my friend's homes burned down in a big fire in our last town."

"So you all moved here together?"

I nodded. "We're all really close."

She smiled at that. "That's good. We all need good people in our lives."

 _I don't know about you, but having genetically modified supernaturals as good people would count for much since we still barely knew ourselves to consider ourselves "good."_

We arrived at room 245 and I was about to find a seat when she insisted on me sitting with her. I felt a sort of friendly vibe pulsing back and forth between us, but I didn't want to get too attached. Right now I had two women in my life and I'm sure that's all I needed right now. I sat down and watched as our teacher walked into the room.

"Good morning, everyone," Mrs. Williows said. Everyone returned it quietly. "Right, well let me start by welcoming a new student of ours." She looked down at her attendance. "Chloe Davis?"

I was shaking with humiliation, wishing my other teachers weren't planning on doing this later. I slowly raised my hand and noticed everyone turning their heads to look at me. When I saw the teacher catch me, I immediately dropped my hand and slouched down.

"Alright," she said beginning her attendance.

...

I walked to my locker after history ended for lunch. I dropped my new history text book inside and shut the door.

"Hey," a voice startled me. "Wow, you're jumpy."

I said nothing. I looked up to see a boy about Derek's height with a pale round face, short dark hair and brown eyes. I'm not going to lie that he was good looking, but I wasn't going to imagine anything beyond that.

"Sorry," I said.

He smiled. "It's cool. I'm Nolan." He offered me his hand and I shook it. "Are you headed to the cafe?" I nodded. "Cool, I'll come with you."

Nolan followed me to the cafeteria where I found Derek, Simon and Tori sitting together at a table in the middle of the room. I made my way over, completely forgetting about Nolan and was greeted by a low growl from Derek who was glaring behind me. I turned to see Nolan right behind me, glancing at everyone. His eye caught Derek and his harmless demeanor faltered. His appearance suddenly became territorial and animalistic. _What the -_

"Um, I'll catch you later," Nolan said to me before disappearing into the crowd.


	5. Feeling Like an Alien

I spent the entire lunch period conversing with everyone about how our day was going so far. Simon had made a new friend with some girl named, Isla, in his art class. Tori was pretty much the same towards everyone: distant and bitchy. Derek...Derek remained to be antisocial and stuck closer to me. Although, speaking of Derek, what was his deal with Nolan earlier? I think he seemed pretty nice but Derek just...growled at him. I've come to notice that Derek only reacts like that two types of people: people who knew he couldn't trust and...

Right then, it came to me.

"Derek," I said as we left the cafeteria. He casually looked down at me with a niceness that was only reserved for me. "Was...I-Is Nolan a...a werewolf?"

He said nothing. He looked up and kept walking, me trying to keep pace with him. I knew I had my answer right then and there, but I wanted to be sure. There could be a variety of reasons why Derek didn't answer me, but I was determined to find out.

"Derek." I stopped him.

"Chloe," he responded in the same tone as me, but more sarcastically.

"Is Nolan a -" He cut me off.

He leaned down to whisper in my ear. "Not here, Chloe. Wait until we're out of earshot of hundreds of kids." His tone was serious and I knew he wasn't going to say much more. Instead, he took my hand and we continued walking to our scheduled classes.

...

When I arrived to last period English, I found two empty seats in the back, much to my relief. I sat down and listened as other students chattered amongst each other. I happened to catch a girl here and a boy there looking back at me before continuing their conversations. Suddenly, my heart began to race and my forehead began to sweat. Could any of these kids be working with the Edison Group? Could any of them be working with the Cabals? I'm hoping that this is my being paranoid.

When I could no longer handle the staring, I grabbed my bag and raced for the door. I made it two steps out into the hallway before I bumped into someone, falling backward and falling on my butt. Nice. I mumbled - more like stuttered - an apology before looking up into Nolan's big brown eyes. His eyebrows shot up with he saw it was me and quickly reached out a hand to help me up. Wow, his hand was really warm.

"Thanks." I fixed my shirt and bag.

Nolan pointed to the room I had barely just escaped from. "Were you just in there?"

I nodded.

He frowned. "That's my next class. Why were you leaving?"

I wanted to admit that I was hiding from some secret scientific organization that experiments on kills supernatural kids and have been on the run, looking for sanctuary for a while. I just wanted to let everything poor out of me all at once and hoped that someone on the outside could make me feel better and let me know that there was safety from all of this...this...bullshit!

 _Wow, did I really just use that word?_ I have never sworn before in my life. Honestly, even thinking it made me feel good. But I would have to make an effort of not using anything like that in front of Aunt Lauren.

"Chloe?" I watched Nolan wave his hand in my face.

"S-Sorry Nolan," I stammered. "I, um...I-I don't do well o-on first days, so I ran."

He smiled sympathetically. "I get that." He looked around the empty hallway. "Where were you going?"

I shrugged.

His smile became a look of mischief. "Come with me."

I followed him.

...

Nolan had led us up into the bleachers where we sat at the top, soaking up the sun and absorbing the silence. It was really nice to hear nothing birds chirping around and feeling normal for once. For once I wasn't Chloe Saunders, genetically mutated necromancer, but Chloe Saunders, fifteen-year-old theater student with an embarrassing stutter. And to accent the feeling of normalcy, I had made a new friend who I happened to have a class with.

"You're really quiet," Nolan's voice from beside me. I looked over to see him reclining against the metal stairs with his eyes closed.

"Y-Yeah, I u-usually a-am." Damn stutter!

He opened his eyes and smiled. "How long have you been stuttering?"

I shrugged. "I guess it started some time after my mom died."

Nolan sat up and was no longer smiling. Now he seemed to look guilty, as if regretting his question. I offered him a small smile of my own to sort of let him know that he hadn't done anything wrong. I hated how easy it was for me to feel so down, but given the present circumstances I suppose it's not all my fault.

"So where are you from..?" Nolan asked.

"Chloe."

"Chloe." He smiled.

"Um, I'm from Seattle."

His eyebrows shot up. "Seattle? What the hell are you doing all the way out here in Ivoryton?"

I thought quickly about what Aunt Lauren instructed our stories should be. I thought about bending it a little bit.

"Um..." I gulped, feeling my hands begin to shake. "I had some problems at home with my dad. I went to stay at a friend's house and a huge fire broke out in our neighborhood." Another deep breath. "Half the area was in flames."

"Jesus, I'm sorry," he whispered.

I shook my head and shook even more. I have never shaken this much before, even when I first encountered my first ghost at school before I was sent to Lyle House. It felt like such a lifetime ago, but it's only been a short couple of weeks. It's amazing what traumatizing events do to you.

"You're shaking like crazy, girl," Nolan chuckled. "Are you okay?"

 _No!_ I wanted to shout but decided against it. Instead I jumped to my feet and raced down the stairs and towards the front of the school. As soon as I got to the front doors, I found the familiar red van parked out front and sprinted towards it just as the bell rang, officially ending the day. As I approached the van, Aunt Lauren jumped out of the passenger seat, fear clouding her delicate features.

"Chloe, what happened?" she panicked when I got closer.

I took a few deep breaths and shook my head before jumping into the van and slamming the door shut behind me. I was expecting Aunt Lauren to jump in after me, but instead Kit walked around the front and stood with her. I could hear them talking, but couldn't make out a single word they said. Moments later, Derek, Tori and Simon climbed into the van. I kept my eyes focused on the other students walking towards their own cars to meet their parents or their friends. I wonder what it felt like to meet friends after school without wondering if danger was watching you every time you turned your head. I knew that feeling once, but it feels so alien to me now.

Simon turned to me. "Are you okay, Chloe?"

I looked at Simon and noticed Derek looking at me in my peripheral vision. I flashed a small smile. "Tough day," I lied. Wow, I didn't even stutter. Then again, it was true.

"You were missing during business," Tori snapped as if trying a one-woman good cop/bad cop deal.

I gulped and dropped my head. "Like I said, I was having a tough day."

No one said anything further. Not even Derek. Instead, he reached over and entwined his fingers with mine, making me a smile. I scooted closer to him and he wrapped his arm around my shoulders just as Aunt Lauren and Kit climbed in the car. As Kit started the car, I heard a faint growl in Derek's chest and I looked up to see an obvious look of disapproval. His arm on my shoulders quickly loosened but he never moved it, making me feel a little distant.

As we set off back to the houses, we all fell into silence.


	6. Marking His Territory

When we got back to the houses, we all jumped out of the van and I was a little disappointed to see as Derek headed towards the guys' house without so much as a "see you later." I looked over at Simon who looked just as confused as I felt.

"Derek!" I called to him.

Without breaking stride, he called back, "I'll come see you later, Chloe." And he disappeared into the house. I felt tears prick my eyes as the sharp pain of rejection hit me strong in the chest. I turned on my heel and disappeared into the house I shared with Aunt Lauren and Tori, heading straight up to my bedroom.

I don't know how long I laid in bed for, but it was nearly dark outside and I heard Kit call everyone into the dining room for dinner. The boys had arrive a couple of hours ago so Kit and Aunt Lauren could talk and cook a real dinner for us. Derek never came up to see me like he said he would and that really upset me. What had I done to cause him to avoid me like this? Did something happen with him at school that he didn't want to talk about? He knew how much I could pry for information, and maybe that's why he wasn't talking to me. I stayed in my room and stared at the ceiling the whole time I was in my room, thinking about what I could do to change what was happening and maybe figure out why I was feeling so faded out.

A tap at my bedroom door caught my attention right away. Finally, Derek had made his presence known and he finally wanted to talk. I slowly got up from my bed to avoid any idea of how anxious I was to talk to my boyfriend and just as slowly opened the door. I was disappointed to see Simon standing on the other side.

"I know you were expecting Derek," he said, "but that guy you brought to lunch with you is at the door."

It took me a moment to remember who he was talking about.

"Nolan?" _How did he find out where were staying?_

Simon shrugged. "Be warned though. Derek is not happy about it." He turned on his heel and headed back downstairs.

I followed Simon downstairs where I found Aunt Lauren in the kitchen area, eyes wide with fear, Kit's face calm as ever. Tori looked mad as always. And Derek...Derek stood by the back double doors, staring out into the darkness of the evening. He turned his head to look at me and his emerald eyes bored into mind, revealing his disgust for the person at the front door. I made my way to the front door and opened it where I found Nolan standing outside, looking deep in thought.

"Nolan," I said, stepping outside and shutting the door.

He turned around and smiled. "Chloe." Without another word, he handed me something.

My backpack.

"You ran away from me so quickly that you left it behind." When I took the bag, our hands slightly brushed against each other and I fought the urge to jump, no longer wanting to be seen as a scaredy cat like I was at Lyle House.

"Y-Yeah," I stammered. "Stress does that to me."

Nolan smirked. "Stress makes you do a lot of things," he said.

"What does that mean?"

Nolan stepped closer to me until my head was forced to lean back so I could look up at him. He was just as tall as Derek and once again, there was someone else who could make me feel small. His brown eyes were fixed right on my blue ones and I could feel my knees begin to buckle. I could smell him perfectly considering the lack of distance between us and my mind became clouded with only his scent.

My body was frozen as Nolan slowly leaned down, his face moving closer to mine, taking his time to be careful. He leaned in until his face was inches from mine and all I wanted to do was back away.

 _So much for no longer being the 'scaredy cat.'_

Suddenly, the front door burst open and Derek stood in its wake. His eyes were full of anger and focused right on Nolan. I've seen that look before and if Nolan was smart, he'd back off and go home. I finally found feeling in my feet and moved up beside Derek. Nolan didn't waver a bit, instead he stared Derek down and I could feel the challenge radiating between them. I reached out and took Derek's hand in mine, which must have done something to bring him out of it because the next thing he did was slam the door and push me up against the door.

"He better pray I don't ever catch him doing that again," Derek growled.

Right now, I was too relieved to have him talking to me than to care about what he would do to Nolan if he pulled his crap again. However, I was worried about what Nolan could do now that he knows where we are.

"Derek -" He cut me off by pressing him lips hard against mine.

Derek's hands roamed down from my shoulders to my hips, holding me in place against the door, pressing his lips harder against mine as they battled. My hands reflexively came up and my fingers tangled in his hair, trying to hold us closer together. I missed this and I wanted so much more, but I couldn't help but wonder if this was out of anger.

Derek's lips parted from mine and he trailed kisses down my neck where I felt his mouth opened slightly as his teeth grazed the sensitive spot on my neck before biting down and sucking. I opened my mouth but no sound came out and I grabbed a fist full of his shirt as he continued to leave his mark. I had to admit I liked this side of Derek, but I was afraid that he was becoming to aggressive for some reason.

"Woah," a voice came from behind Derek. Derek didn't back off right away. He carefully licked the spot he had sucked on and stood up straight until he was once again towering over me.

He reached over to the coat rack and grabbed a small scarf and wrapped it around my neck to hide what he had done. He walked away without another word and now I could see Simon standing there, looking even more confused now than he did earlier.

"Are you okay?" Simon asked as he stepped towards me to examine Derek's work. He pulled the scarf down and made a hissing noise like he was in pain. "Jesus, just be glad it was me who caught you guys instead of Dad or Luaren." He shook his head. "That looks nasty."

I opened my mouth to say something when Aunt Lauren called us all into the dining room for dinner. I guess tonight was no time for me to talk tonight. I followed Simon into the dining room where we all sat down and ate in an uncomfortable silence.


End file.
